Liz Truss becomes new U.K. prime minister in day of pageantry

New leader Liz Truss promised to help Britain “ride the storm” of inflation, recession and soaring energy prices. She vowed to get the country working and growing again with tax cuts and deregulation. She used the word “we” a lot.

But neither Truss nor Johnson mentioned that their Conservative Party has been in power for 12 years and so has contributed to the country’s scary economic forecast. Johnson didn’t note that it was his party’s lawmakers who drove him from office after a string of scandals and lies. And Truss didn’t acknowledge that she has been installed by the lawmakers and members of their party, rather than securing a mandate from broader Britain. She was selected by 0.3 percent of the population.

Live updates: Liz Truss installed as U.K. prime minister, replacing Boris Johnson

The day was a pas de deux — by tradition.

Usually outgoing and incoming prime ministers nearly pass each other on the five-minute drive from Downing Street to Buckingham Palace, both in London. But because Queen Elizabeth II is 96 years old and has limited mobility, she asked the pair to travel to her, at her Balmoral royal estate and summer holiday home in Scotland.

Johnson and Truss flew in separate Royal Air Force passenger jets to arrive for their separate audiences with the monarch. Cutting carbon emissions, it appeared, was not the top concern of the day. Officials asserted that dual flights were necessary for security.

Johnson had been serving as a caretaker prime minister since July, when an avalanche of resignations from his government forced him to announce he would step down. But his meeting with the queen made it official. He bowed and tendered his resignation.

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Then it was Truss’s turn to meet the monarch and ask for permission to form a new government. In photos allowed by the palace, she appeared to perform a shallow curtsy.

The transition offered a glimpse of the queen, which has become something of a rarity since health issues forced her to scale back her workload. Wearing a gray cardigan, a Scotland-appropriate plaid skirt and her signature pearls, she smiled at Truss and extended her hand toward the incoming prime minister.

In her other hand, the queen held a cane, an aid she has been photographed using regularly in recent months.

She looked tiny — and a little frail — but chipper.

Truss is the queen’s 15th prime minister. The first was Winston Churchill, born in 1874. Truss was born more…